The reason that businesses purchase safety prevention manuals and books on safe work procedures is not because they want to fill their filing cabinets or to create nicer looking bookshelves. These books and manuals are essential resources for bucket truck companies to obtain important information about life-saving techniques and safety procedures. The real significance in having such helpful resources is that the operators of these massive vehicles can learn how to help their company discover the difference between beneficial rules and non-beneficial ones and hopefully establish standards of operation agreeable to both employee and employer.

Challenges of Enforcing Company Standards

• Employers - Rules are a manager’s tools for the well-being of the entire organization. Although some regulations come into existence due to problems that arise when using the equipment, certain standards should be established at the very beginning of the company’s operations. Specific amendments can always be added to the general rules as the operating needs of the company change over a period of time. The primary challenge of management is to clearly communicate these rules to workers and to cite specific examples of situations to demonstrate the benefit to them. Once the benefit to employees has been established, the organization can look ahead to smooth operations and the lowering of operating costs as a result.

• Employees - Rules are designed to be followed by all company workers. Such a practice contributes to the personal safety of everyone and efficient operations for the company. One of the biggest challenges faced by employers is the implementation of such guidelines when employees ignore rules that they do not like. These people need to realize that they not only put themselves at risk; they compromise the security of co-workers and place the entire organization in a hazardous position.

Tips to Eliminate Challenges

Following are some helpful tips to help workers follow the standards that have been implemented by their company:

• Good Communications - Bucket truck operators and their crews need to be included in any review of current safety rules. Management should establish a retribution-free environment in which employees can speak freely about the security regulations. In this type of environment, workers who are directly affected by these guidelines while working can share their thoughts with management and explain any problems they perceive with the established or proposed rules and standards of practice

• Purposeful Review - It is helpful for managers to conduct a purposeful review of any safety rules and guidelines. Any manuals or guidelines to prevent accidents should be photocopied and clearly marked with a highlighter to indicate the words or sentences that carry the most weight in these guidelines. For example, rules that contain the word "shall" are the ones that employees are required to follow, as the word "shall" typically means "must." Every worker who is required to follow these standards should be provided with a highlighted copy of the rules and guidelines.

• Experts – It is wise for a business to consult with safety experts to review any company regulations in comparison to the guidelines established by OSHA to determine which of the rules are applicable to that particular organization. This is a good opportunity to determine if all important guidelines are included in the company’s safety manual and above all determine that every employee is following the safety procedures established by the company.

• Committees - Creating a safety committee of company employees can be very helpful. Working within such a committee will allow workers to discuss issues and concerns about safety with their peers. It will also allow management to be provided important feedback from their employees. A safety committee should have a leader with good listening skills who is willing to promptly address any concerns for such a group to be very effective.

Bucket truck operators must comply with safety rules at all times. Employers and employees need to work hand-in-hand in order to keep these protection-from-harm procedures at the forefront of every operation. Learning which regulations are beneficial and which rules are counter-productive will allow employees to work in a safe environment and employers to gain from these efforts by increased and safe productivity!